Haydock Sprint Cup Preview: Candy's charge can Master his rivals

Sadly any comparisons with Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley don't stretch as far as the golf course, but over the last day or so I too have done some pretty serious thinking about who to pick. The position in question is for an ante-post bet for Saturday's Sprint Cup rather than a place at Gleneagles in three weeks' time, but like McGinley I've let recent form do much of the talking when coming up with my selection. At the time of writing Henry Candy - who won this in 2010 with Markab - has had 13 winners from his last 23 runners. He also happens to train Music Master, who has plenty going for him beyond his handler's current hot streak.

Despite only having his attentions turned to sprinting in relatively recently, Music Master has accomplished an awful lot in a relatively short time-span. His reincarnation began at Ascot in October where he came second to Tropics in a Group 3, finishing clear of the remainder and setting tongues wagging at Timeform house as to his potential for 2014. That campaign is now well underway and Henry Candy's charge has not disappointed, producing consecutive career-best performances on Timeform figures on his last two starts. The first of those came in the Diamond Jubilee at Royal Ascot, his maiden voyage into Group 1 company, finishing an admirable fourth and shaping with real promise to boot. He displayed all the necessary attributes to make a top sprinter, travelling strongly before showing a smart turn of foot and proving himself well up to competing at the highest level.

Last time out at Newbury was a similarly impressive display, albeit at a lower grade. Set a huge amount to do in the closing stages the way in which Music Master shot past his rivals left a clear impression that he's a potentially high-class performer, and he won with much more in hand than the narrow margin of victory suggests. The third-placed Es Que Love has subsequently triumphed in a Group 2 suggesting the form is not to be sniffed at either.  In the interest of full disclosure he did have to miss the Nunthorpe Stakes with a cough but the aforementioned figures of Henry Candy's string can leave you in little doubt as to the well-being of the stable now. He remains highly unexposed as a sprinter and at current odds of 12.523/2 should be kept on side.

Sole Power heads the market and with increasingly upbeat weather bulletins being issued (the straight is currently good-to-soft with a warm, dry week forecast) it looks increasingly likely he'll line up. You'll have to have been living under a rock not to notice his exploits this season, and even though he's done most of his racing over the minimum distance, he still rates as a worthy favourite over a furlong further. His most recent try over Saturday's trip came in Hong Kong last year and it wasn't so much the extra distance that beat him but an exceptional sprinter in the shape of Lord Kanaloa, and it wouldn't be the main concern for this weekend. The worry is whether this will come too soon for him; he had breaks of six weeks between Newmarket and Ascot and nine weeks between Ascot and York, and although he won the Nunthorpe easily in the end it will have taken a lot out of him to finish like he did.  You get the feeling him taking up this engagement is largely due to the auspicious weather forecast, and although he's clearly the best horse in the race there are enough doubts about his energy reserves to swerve his current price of 5.04/1.

As defending champion, Gordon Lord Byron clearly merits consideration, especially since returning to these shores from a fruitful winter campaign abroad it looks as if he's been brought to the boil for this contest. A midfield finish in the Diamond Jubilee was followed by a fine performance in a Group 3 at the Curragh last time, going down by the narrowest of margins to Jamesie, a smart performer in his own right who was in receipt of 7 lb. That will have put him spot-on for Saturday and the going won't be a problem either, the question is whether he can repeat his heroics from last year in what is a much stronger field and there are sufficient question marks to look elsewhere for an alternative.

The horse who does make some appeal in that role is G Force, whose performance in the Nunthorpe last time didn't so much catch your eye as smack you around the face. He had travelled strongly into the race and was just starting to make his challenge before running into trouble, eventually finishing like a train when he did find some room. It would be unrealistic to suggest he would have beaten Sole Power with a clear run but there's a strong case to suggest he would have come second.  As a three-year-old he gets a handy weight allowance and he's clearly improving fast; given the step-up to to six furlongs shouldn't be a problem if he gets a clear passage it wouldn't be a huge surprise to see him win.

There are plenty of others who merit consideration and it looks a much more competitive renewal than last year's race. Tropics must be respected after his second to Slade Power in the July Cup but you feel he was seen to maximum effect given the way the race developed and the British Champions Sprint at Ascot might be more up his street. Aljamaaheer has flattered to deceive in a number of top sprints so far but noises from connections suggest he might wait until Doncaster's Leger meeting to continue his rehabilitation into a speedster.
 
As a huge fan of the Ryder Cup (it's second only to Cheltenham in my list of favourite sporting events) I hope Paul McGinley's decision to value current form pays off in spectacular style in a few weeks' time. As for this weekend's action, with the talented Music Master and his in-form handler Henry Candy we stand a good chance of reaping similar rewards.

Recommendation:

Back Music Master in the Sprint Cup